Welcome to the Baby Expert Birth Guide
This guide provides information on how maternity care is delivered in the UK and gives details of the services
offered by individual maternity units. It has been designed to help you find the maternity care best suited to your individual
needs.
Maternity units are divided into two groups: those run by midwives, and those with care shared by consultants and midwives. More Info
Select a birth unit from the alphabetical list, or search for your local services by entering a postcode.
Alphabetical List
This option will take you to a specific birth unit.
Shared midwife and consultant units: This is the traditional hospital-based maternity unit staffed with doctors and midwives which account for the vast majority of births in the UK. These units have consultant obstetricians on staff and are able to deal with both complex and straightforward pregnancies and deliveries. Many will offer a choice of being under the supervision of a doctor or a midwife, although if there are complications you will almost certainly be put under the care of a doctor. These units are capable of carrying out all medical interventions in childbirth and can offer a full anaesthetic service, including epidurals.
Midwife-led units: These maternity units do not have consultants working in them and offer services for women who show no signs of having any difficulty giving birth naturally. Most of them are staffed entirely by midwives although in a few GPs with training in obstetrics also provide care.
By and large these units offer a very different style of care compared with consultant units. In general there are no anaesthetists to administer epidurals and no surgeons to perform caesarean sections. Interventions are very limited. Midwife-led units can provide an environment in which women are given support to give birth without medical intervention or high levels of drugs for pain relief. However, if you do get into difficulties at one of these units, you would be quickly transferred to a large hospital.
